YEADON -- Four dogs left to fend for themselves in the elements for several days were pulled from a pen outside a home on Baily Road Thursday night.

"They were completely caked in mud," Delaware County SPCA spokeswoman Justina Calgiano said of the four Cane Corsos. "It almost looked like a second coat."

Police were initially dispatched to 7 Baily Road on Dec. 21 after a neighbor complained about the dogs being abandoned in their pen.

Working with Yeadon Police, Delaware County Animal Control secured a warrant Thursday and extracted an adult male and female and two pups with the help of the SPCA.

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A day earlier, an animal control officer had posted violations on the front door of the two-story colonial.

"Thankfully, they're now safe and warm and being spoiled with treats, the best food and warm blankets," Calgiano said, adding that the adult dogs (believed to be the parents of the puppies) had to be tranquilized before they were transported to the Upper Providence shelter.

"The puppies have had baths and appear to be doing well," Calgiano said. "The dad has a ruptured eye and is severely emaciated and the mom is still very frightened."

For the time being, the adults are being kept in an isolated part of the kennel.

"We have to be careful how we handle the adults," Calgiano said. "They are extremely scared. We will get them evaluated once we have the proper hands-on help."

A man who answered the phone Friday at Delaware County Animal Control said he would not provide any information about the case to the Daily Times.

In a Thursday night interview with NBC10, animal control officer Lisa Stewart said the dogs could have died within a day or two had they been left in the pen.

"These dogs are starving," she said. "They lunged at all the food we gave them. That only means one thing: they haven't eaten in days."

No one answered the door at the Baily Road home Friday afternoon, but a neighbor said the owner made sure the dogs were fed.

"Someone would come by regularly," he said. "I know there was someone over there feeding them right before they got picked up."

The neighbor said he saw the owner infrequently and was not sure if he still resided in the borough.

"I think he was trying to do the right thing but the space was too small and it just wasn't working," he said. "Those are big dogs."

The pen, which consists of a chain link fence attached to a wooden frame, extends from the north side of the home and contains a small doghouse.

On Friday, animal control officials were still trying to determine who was responsible for the dogs' care.

"(W)e're still trying to track the owner down (and) piece all the details together," Calgiano said, adding that a cruelty investigation will be handled by either Delaware County Animal Control or the SPCA.

Should there come a time when the owner relinquishes custody of the animals, she said the adult dogs could be sent to a breed-specific rescue.